swee'pea99
Legendary Member
This time last year I rang up Westminster Council to order bin bags. It's how the council gets small businesses to pay for waste collection - you buy batches of bags, 50 a time, for about £50.
"The bags are £50," said the woman, "plus there's a £17.50 adminstration charge." "What do you mean, 'administration charge' - I'm already paying fifty quid for the damn bags." "It's to cover the costs of administration," she says, "but you can avoid it by buying online." "I would've thought the five grand a year we pay you in rates would cover the admin, but ok..."
So I go online, and of course I have to register. So I fill in pages of forms ('why do they need my date of birth so I can buy bin bags?') till I get to the final screen, and click on 'Submit'. And nothing happens. I click again. Nothing happens. Have I registered or not? But the woman on the phone said after I register, half an hour later I'll get an email, confirming my registration. So then I can go back to the website, and log in. To buy bin bags.
So I wait an hour. Nothing. I ring back, talk to another council woman, explain the situation, she apologises and offers to take my order and waive the charge, on account of my website woes. I take the opportunity to query the benefits to the council of the process I've just enjoyed, and wonder how much they have saved by having me spend half a hour, and their own people ten minutes on the phone, rather than just taking my credit card details in 20 seconds, like any sane business. But anyway, it's done, and the next day the bin bags arrive.
This year I ring up to reorder, having forgotten the whole online thing. I just want some binbags. AND EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN.
Which means in the 12 months since my first fiasco, with the 10 minutes wasted council telephone time and the half hour of wasted my time, all in the name of savings and efficiency, all buggered by a website that simply doesn't work, having been harangued about it at some length, calmly but with some coherence by an angry local business ratepayer, Westminster Council
have
done
nothing.
Five grand a year. Plus £50 for bin bags.
"The bags are £50," said the woman, "plus there's a £17.50 adminstration charge." "What do you mean, 'administration charge' - I'm already paying fifty quid for the damn bags." "It's to cover the costs of administration," she says, "but you can avoid it by buying online." "I would've thought the five grand a year we pay you in rates would cover the admin, but ok..."
So I go online, and of course I have to register. So I fill in pages of forms ('why do they need my date of birth so I can buy bin bags?') till I get to the final screen, and click on 'Submit'. And nothing happens. I click again. Nothing happens. Have I registered or not? But the woman on the phone said after I register, half an hour later I'll get an email, confirming my registration. So then I can go back to the website, and log in. To buy bin bags.
So I wait an hour. Nothing. I ring back, talk to another council woman, explain the situation, she apologises and offers to take my order and waive the charge, on account of my website woes. I take the opportunity to query the benefits to the council of the process I've just enjoyed, and wonder how much they have saved by having me spend half a hour, and their own people ten minutes on the phone, rather than just taking my credit card details in 20 seconds, like any sane business. But anyway, it's done, and the next day the bin bags arrive.
This year I ring up to reorder, having forgotten the whole online thing. I just want some binbags. AND EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN.
Which means in the 12 months since my first fiasco, with the 10 minutes wasted council telephone time and the half hour of wasted my time, all in the name of savings and efficiency, all buggered by a website that simply doesn't work, having been harangued about it at some length, calmly but with some coherence by an angry local business ratepayer, Westminster Council
have
done
nothing.
Five grand a year. Plus £50 for bin bags.
